There is a good reason Kenya is recognised as the Silicon Savannah of Africa. It’s a befitting nickname for a leading tech and innovation hub, one that created M-Pesa, DigiFarm, M-KOPA, Wasoko, and Sendy, and many other impactful projects.
This list goes on because Kenya for years has been recognised as a leader in impact investing across the region and a central player on the continent. This means that the country’s entrepreneurship climate and infrastructure manage to drive investment that delivers not only financial returns but also real social impact. The same trend holds in the tech sector, where Kenya, alongside Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa, continues to dominate the investment landscape.
Technology is evolving rapidly and demanding more resources than ever. AI has changed the game, pushing government and businesses in Kenya to unite around major challenges. In 2025, infrastructure, structured AI governance, and institutional support for innovation have moved to the forefront. Let’s briefly examine the major technology-driven efforts that shaped the country this year.
Artificial Intelligence took center stage
Three major tech-driven development projects stood out. Cognisant of the increasing adoption of AI and other new technologies, the Kenyan government responded by launching the country’s first-ever National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy in March 2025.
This is a roadmap on how Kenya will engage with and manage AI over the long term. It consists of three key pillars:
- building AI digital infrastructure,
- establishing a robust data ecosystem, and
- fostering AI research and innovation to utilise this technology to its full potential
Around the same time the government unveiled the AI strategy, much of the debate evolved around fear of AI taking over people’s jobs. This fear is justified. Therefore, it makes sense that institutional efforts focus on positioning Kenya as an AI innovator rather than just a passive adopter.
The AI strategy will equip Kenyans with the technical know-hows needed to effectively leverage AI to produce homegrown solutions for different sectors of the economy, including public service, education, health, agriculture, creative industries, and many other sectors.
If successfully implemented, the Strategy will foster the growth of job opportunities, and address the youth unemployment crisis. It is also aimed at improving the business environment and making Kenya more attractive to international investors.
Kenya is thinking global
The year 2025 also witnessed the launch of TechPlomacy Connective, a first of its kind innovation platform designed to integrate diplomacy with emerging technologies.
The initiative is anchored on digital inclusion, AI governance, and public-private partnerships. The main goal is to position Kenya as a leading global tech powerhouse, and not just the Silicon Savannah of Africa. It will be another huge leap.
Embedding tech diplomacy into the country’s foreign policy and development agenda does something else: it communicates to the world that Kenya is ready to be part of the consequential conversations, negotiations and policy decisions that will reshape the global tech landscape.
This is a good thing on many fronts. For one, building a solid diplomatic relationship with the global tech ecosystems opens up Kenya to better investment opportunities, knowledge transfer, and more bilateral agreements that can benefit the citizens back home and abroad. It ensures Kenyan tech innovations are not confined to its borders.
Beyond diplomacy, Kenya gets infrastructure
In September 2025, the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy presided over the ground-breaking of Nxtra, which will become East Africa’s largest data centre.
Nxtra, a 44-megawatt facility by Airtel Africa Data Centre, is designed to provide secure and scalable infrastructure, namely manage and store huge amounts of data for businesses and governmental purposes. Its task is to handle complex, resource-intensive tasks, including AI workloads, graphics-heavy applications, and cloud computing operations.
The facility will strengthen Kenya’s digital resilience, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, while creating hundreds of jobs and boosting the region’s tech ecosystem.
Data centres are needed to power technologies such as AI, fintech, ecommerce, cloud computing, government digital services, startup ecosystems and much more. Our data sovereignty and security depends on building large-scale and powerful data centres like Nxtra, which will enhance security and reduce the cost of cloud services for businesses. More importantly, Kenya will become the investment destination of choice.
Media too has a role play
As technologies like AI reshape industries and economies, the media plays a vital role in keeping citizens informed and the business community engaged. Platforms such as TUKO.co.ke and other media outlets across the country consistently spotlight businesses, organisations, and leaders whose innovations create meaningful social and economic impact.
By explaining what AI means and how these technologies influence everyday life, the media channels ensure that audiences understand the changes around them. Clear and transparent communication remains pivotal in making adaptation to these technological shifts effective and smooth.
As technologies such as AI continue to transform our industries and economies, the media is not left far behind in highlighting these developments to keep the citizens well informed and the business community engaged.
Looking back, Kenya made big leaps in its ambitious journey to become a global tech hub. We set the stage by launching the first-ever AI strategy, and scaled it up by unveiling the TechPlomacy Connective to integrate diplomacy with emerging technologies, another first. And to top it all, we witnessed the groundbreaking of East Africa’s largest data centre.
If Kenya continues with the pace set in 2025, the journey to a first world country that President William Ruto spoke about will be unstoppable.
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